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The Community Connector Initiative has a new home!

November 26, 2014


The GWLIP is super-excited to announce that the
Community Connector Initiative (CCI), developed by our former Friendship Programs Action Team (that’s them in the picture), will be hosted and implemented by the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition (GNSC).

The CCI will build a bank of volunteers who will offer flexible and informal support, information, and friendship. The CCI’s community connectors will be community members who will go the extra mile to help immigrants and newcomers by linking them to the services they need and to their communities.

In March, the CCI received funding that will make a pilot program possible in Guelph Wellington. By June, the Friendship Program Action Team and LIP staff was reaching out to organizations in search of a suitable, sustainable “home” for this fantastic initiative. The search, we’re happy to report, was successful.

Members of the action team have been invited by the GNSC to become advisory group members and continue guiding its development and implementation.

“The GNSC is ecstatic to be the home for the CCI. Not only do we get to launch an awesome program but we get to have a dedicated and passionate team from the LIP help us make it happen. The initiative fits perfectly with the GNSC’s goals and objectives to support neighbourhoods as places where everyone feels welcome, safe and at home,” said Brendan Johnson, Executive Director of the GNSC.

We look forward to the program launch in the new year!

Read more about the CCI below…

“As an immigrant to Canada and Guelph, I felt alone. Every system puzzled me. I met Mary, a volunteer Community Connector who introduced me to the right people and services at the right time. Thanks to Mary’s help, I feel connected, welcome, and able to give back to this community…”

That’s what an immigrant to Guelph Wellington would say about the Community Connector Initiative (CCI).

The prospective program, developed by the LIP’s Friendship Program Action Team, will build an informal network of volunteers who will provide immigrants to Guelph Wellington with information and social connections.

The team submitted a proposal to the innovative, community-based Elevator Project in a bid to attract partners and investors who could help to launch the pilot.

After a round of public voting, the project hosted its first Big Show on March 25. Many people came to learn more about and support 52 great ideas. The CCI was in the top 15 of ideas!

Here’s what the CCI received:

$8,000 in cash from the City of Guelph
$2,000 in cash from the Guelph Community Health Centre
$1,350 in-kind mentorship from David Thornley, director of the Guelph Community Health Centre

Guelph-Wellington Local Immigration Partnership

Guelph-Wellington Local Immigration Partnership